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// ... and the Dumb One 
// Story: Suddenly Twilight Is The Dumb One 
// by Jay Bear v2 
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Twilight flew down the stairs and into the library’s basement. She’d prepared for this day ever since they’d used the Elements of Harmony to “redeem” Discord. Everypony should have known it wouldn’t last.
Dust-covered lab equipment she’d brought from Canterlot filled the basement except in one corner. There an immense red crystal floated in place, humming in a low tone. Etched runes covered its surface, their forms always shifting. The crystal’s polyhedral shape defied description, as if its facets did not unite in any way a mathematician could explain. It was made of pure chaotic energy, the only thing capable of summoning a draconequus without fail. And there was only one such creature that Twilight planned to call on.
Her horn charged with energy. She had to be as precise as a scalpel and as mighty as a train. One mistake and magic itself would corrupt all across Ponyville. But Discord had changed her friends. 
The shaping and ward spells coalesced in her mind, and—
“You do know you can just say please, don’t you?”
Discord hung from an open wardrobe that definitely hadn’t been there a minute ago. He unspooled out of it, followed by a lion, whom he ushered back inside. The wardrobe vanished as soon as the lion’s tail slipped in.
Twilight turned her aim from the cyrstal to him. Now she didn’t need to be precise. “What have you done to my friends?”
“Nothing, really, just peeled the scales from their eyes and hoisted them upon the shoulders of giants.” He paused to examine his claws. “And I might have made them all geniuses.”
“You what?”
“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic. You’d think I made them all grow wings.”
“Change them back!”
“Change them back?” Discord’s eyebrows arched. His snaggletooth smile twisted into a sneer. “Change them back?” His body coiled into a cushion, on which he sat and looked down at her. “Why, Twilight, I’m disappointed in you. I never took you for the jealous type.”
“What? I’m not…” Twilight stopped herself. Of course he’d resort to mind games. She shook her head and refocused her glare on him. “This isn’t about me. This is about what you did to them.”
“Are you sure? Because I’m beginning to think you liked being the only smart one.”
“No!” But she couldn’t meet his eyes. “If anything I’m glad they’re into astronomy. You messed with their heads, and even if it’s for something good, the principle—“
“The principle!” Discord exploded from his self-throne. “What principle is that, hmm? That no pony may dare challenge your brilliance, not even your so-called friends? Or were they more like pets to you before I broke your ‘principle’?”
“It’s… I…” Nothing she started to say left her lips. Was he right? Was she jealous? No, it wasn’t okay that Discord could change somepony’s mind without their permission. She ought to stand up to him. But it was done now. They were all geniuses, and they were all happy as they were.
She turned away from him. There was all of Equestria to think about too. What wonders would her friends create during their lives? They had already done such amazing things with only a few nights, their own eyes, and a little research. They hadn’t asked for Twilight’s help, or even asked the two princesses who actually raised the sun, moon, and stars…
That’s what gave away the game.
Twilight whipped around to Discord. “You liar.”
Discord had an intrigued look.
“My friends navigated the Everfree Forest and defeated Nightmare Moon,” she said. “They stopped a changeling invasion, freed the Crystal Empire, saved Ponyville from a half-dozen disasters, and they even outsmarted you. You didn’t make them smarter. My friends have always been geniuses.” She scowled at him. “The only thing you did was make them forget Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.”
Discord had gone back to picking at his claws. “As far as I’m concerned, I did them a favor. I’d rather wipe those two from my own mind.”
“A favor? They’re building a giant rocket and think it’ll send them to other worlds! Who knows what they’ll actually fly into?” she said. “I mean, Princess Luna probably knows, but still.”
“I almost forgot! How about we go see your friends strap themselves to a giant firecracker?”
“Change them back.” Twilight hunkered down, ready to make him if she had to. “Now!”
“If you insist. What about the rest of Ponyville?”
Twilight eyed him. “What about them?”
“I made it so you are the only one in town who remembers Cel-bell and Lulu. Originally, it was a classic game of, ‘I’ve lost my mind and my entire life is a lie,’ although I suppose things didn’t go quite as planned.”
“Change everypony back.” Her horn glowed anew.
Discord scowled and snapped his claws. “You’re no fun.”
“And never, ever do that to anypony else!”
A stack of books—all cookbooks—materialized under Discord’s left paw. He raised his right and said, “On my honor as a reformed spirit of chaos, I solemnly swear I will never again make any pony, whether they be mare, stallion, colt, or filly, forget about the princesses.”
The books disappeared. Discord swung up a claw, opening a window out of thin air, and climbed outside. Wherever he was going, it looked like everything was made of fuzzy worm toys with googly eyes. “Enjoy giving them all an existential crisis.”
With a click, the window shut and vanished. Twilight beamed to herself. She would go talk to her friends soon, to explain what happened and maybe get them interested in some real astronomy. For now, she had a higher authority to report to. And, based on the sound of dragon feet padding down the stairs, her number one assistant was on the way to help.
“Spike! Come down to the basement. I’ve got a letter to write.”
He appeared at the top of the stairwell. Ever ready, he grabbed a quill from behind his crest and unrolled a parchment.
“Dear Princess Celestia…” she started.
The quill stopped. Spiked cocked his head to the side and squinted at her. “Dear who?”